A Bubble Bath for Your Brain with Dr. Wendy Suzuki Artwork

Circling the Drain

A podcast about the period BEFORE you stop getting your period. The concept of a woman "circling the drain" conjures up negative imagery for some, but the origin of this as the name of the podcast has a story. A friend, in her 30's at the time, was listing her ailments to a male physician who clearly had a terrible bedside manner, because he responded to her complaints by shrugging his shoulders in a dismissive fashion and saying something like, "I don't know what to tell you. From now on, you're basically just circling the drain!" Co-hosts Ellie and Julia have been laughing at the audacity of this tone-deaf interaction ever since, and when they decided to start this podcast about the plight of the aging woman, they chose to reclaim and repurpose the phrase in the spirit of humor. Every human on the planet is circling the drain from the moment we are born. The question is, how slowly and gracefully can we spiral? And can we minimize the discomfort while we whirl? Perimenopausal co-hosts Ellie and Julia take a deep dive into the sometimes embarrassing, often hilarious, and always bewildering issues of the hormonal changes that take place in midlife. Through honest accounts, thoughtful interviews, and group panel discussions, their mission is to make you chuckle, make you nod your head in recognition, and hopefully make some scientific progress.

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Circling the Drain

A Bubble Bath for Your Brain with Dr. Wendy Suzuki

August 16, 2023 • Ellie Dvorkin Dunn & Julia Granacki with Dr. Wendy Suzuki • Season 3 • Episode 56

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Dr. Wendy Suzuki is a professor of Neural Science and Psychology and author of two incredible books, Good Anxiety and Healthy Brain, Happy Life. Her TED talk, The Brain-Changing Benefits of Exercise, has more than 60 million views, making it the 2nd most viewed TED talk of 2018. In spite of our awe, we managed to pick her fancy brain about many things, like how hormonal changes can lead to increased anxiety, tips for building resilience and staying motivated to exercise, and what to do about "choking" (AKA brain farts or derping). She told us all about her concept of "micro flow", causing us to envision a tiny Flo from the Progressive commercials sitting on our shoulders. This is why she is the Dean of the College of Arts and Science at NYU and we are not! We also talk about Ellie going braless for the summer and Julia rubbing emu oil on her skin. If you think the latter is problematic, remember Julia's words: "The emu is already dead at this point."

Topics and timestamps
14:00 - The transformative effects that exercise has on the brain
21:56 - How hormonal changes can lead to increased anxiety
27:46 - Building resilience
34:26 - Tips for staying motivated to exercise
40:10 - What to do about "choking" AKA brain farts
49:09 - Flow vs. Microflow

Handles and sites
Dr. Suzuki's Website
Good Anxiety by Dr. Suzuki
Healthy Brain, Happy Life by Dr. Suzuki
Dr. Suzuki's Insta
Dr. Suzuki's facebook

List of Resources Mentioned
Three Vaccines for Fall: What You Need to Know
Dr. Suzuki's TED Talk: The brain-changing benefits of exercise
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's TED Talk: Flow, the secret to happiness
The Other 50% Podcast
For 10% off Erin's Faces in the month of August, enter CTD at checkout

Other Links
Julia G Wellness - book a free Zoom with Julia today!
https://circlingthedrainpodcast.buzzsprout.com/

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People on this episode

Ellie Dvorkin Dunn

Co-host

Julia Granacki

Co-host